MEMBERS ONLY CHALLENGE
We periodically run supported 30-day challenges together as a group.
The next FeldenFit 30 day Challenge begins for FeldenFit 1 on November 1, 2024.
Includes audio files of all the lessons in German!
Break free from restrictive habits and ride in harmony with your horse...
30 effortless Awareness Through Movement lessons over 30 days for improved stability, balance, suppleness, co-ordination and feel in the saddle.
Feldenfit 1 is a series of 30 short Feldenkrais-based video lessons (5-15 mins each) created specifically for horse riders by Catherine McCrum Feldenkrais practitioner and equestrian.
The lessons in this programme are focussed on helping you become a more effective rider. They help develop your balance, coordination, stability, and suppleness in the saddle.
In freeing our bodies from the constraints of poor posture, unconscious muscular tension, disturbances in breathing and poor co-ordination, we as riders, can feel and be truly capable
Are you craving more of those moments where you feel balanced, supple and secure, where you can freely move to precisely aid your horse in a way that is effective and responsive?
Except… at some level, it feels like an impossible dream
- particularly when you
frustrate yourself by slipping into bad postural habits in the saddle - feel held back by stiffness and injuries
- remember your age or physical challenges
It can feel like it would take a miracle to develop the balance, posture and movement skills of the riders you admire🥺
Woah there, halt that train of thought!
For a moment let’s move away from thinking on limitations and wonder about the way our bodies really learn.
Take it back to the beginning…
How is it that a child starts crawling, and then progressively learns to walk all on their own?
That’s miraculous
Consider then that...
your body is in the miracle business 💝
These miracles of movement you had as a child are still available to you.
This capacity to learn and improve is your innate potential.
The problem is that most of us have learnt to try and correct things from the outside in.
We have been valiantly 'trying' to sit up straight or hold our hands in a certain position for what feels like forever.
This is the kind of 'learning' many of us have experienced in lessons, where an external expert is constantly correcting your 'faults'. This type of 'learning' is noisy. It disrupts our ability to feel, and the endless corrections often lead to feelings of self-doubt and muscular tension which perversely gets in the way of us riding with ease.
"Learning takes place through our nervous system, which is so structured as to detect and select, from among our trials and errors, the more effective trial. We thus gradually eliminate the aimless movements... We sense differences and select the good from the useless: that is, we differentiate."
Moshe Feldenkrais
The Feldenkrais-based lessons in Feldenfit help you tap into your natural way of learning. They help to reawaken your inner curiosity and pleasure in moving well.
In creating a quiet focussed internal environment FeldenFit lessons catalyse your learning.
With a different focus in each lesson, you are led into exploring some of the foundational movements integral to freeing your body to perform better.
Each carefully designed lesson helps you to recover and rediscover your natural inborn ability to move freely, showing you where to look for something new that is relevant to you right now in your riding and the development of your seat.
Often riders experience a loss of coordination as they get older or develop compensations from injuries.
These problem areas can make you feel like you are dealing with blind spots in your awareness that we call “black holes” in which you can’t feel a part of yourself, let alone understand how to coordinate it harmoniously with the rest of your body.
This is especially an issue when riding as your balance is integral to your effectiveness.
FeldenFit lessons enable you to identify and address these “black holes” so that you can discover for yourself ways of moving which feel smoother, easier, more balanced and more cohesive.
Thoughtfully crafted movement sessions tune your awareness, enabling you to learn to judge for yourself the quality of your balance in relationship to your horse’s balance.
Regardless of where you are in your riding journey (at the beginning, long time veteran, or anywhere in between), you will find that the lessons in this programme will leave you feeling centred, grounded and aligned with your horse.
Less is More.
FeldenFit is a non-strenuous, body-friendly, mindful way to make a profound transformation in the way you sit, move, and function in the saddle.
Are you ready to say goodbye to forced corrections, futile hard work, and ineffective efforts and get back in touch with your natural capacity to improve?
FeldenFit 1 is a series of 30 lessons that help you become the rider you’ve always dreamed of.
The FeldenFit Sessions
Each video features an awareness-based lesson which uses simple movements. Some will make you stronger. Some will make you more supple. They will definitely improve your coordination, your balance, and your posture.
The programme is made up of 4 weekly themes designed to help you become a more effective rider by improving your balance, suppleness, spatial awareness and co-ordination.
Week 1 - Discover the Power of your True Centre
Riders will love these 7 lessons and the new way that they allow your body to move, balance and self correct without you even having to think about it.
Organise your pelvis and supple your ribs, to enable you to better move in any direction while your breath flows more naturally.
An effective seat is supple, responsive and well co-ordinated. Releasing historical patterns of muscular contraction you can discover the true power of your centre for effortless action.
Day 1 - Flexions
Day 2 - Lateral flexions - C shaped spine
Day 3 - Flexions with a Twist
Day 4 - Lateral Flexions with a Twist
Day 5 - A Clock on the Back of the Pelvis
Day 6 - Extensions with a Twist
Day 7 - Spine like a Chain
Week 2 - Feel Agile and Free
7 lessons to supple the legs, hip joints and pelvis for a supple, agile seat.
Free your overworked muscles and notice how it gives you a serious spring in your step!
Day 8 - Hamstrings getting Flexible (Sitting)
Day 9 - Hamstrings getting Flexible (Lying down)
Day 10 - Flipping the Legs in Sitting
Day 11 - Flipping the Legs and Rolling
Day 12 - Suppling the Hip Joints
Day 13 - Differentiating the Toes to Free the Hips
Day 14 - Crossing the Legs and Rolling
Week 3 - Improve your Spatial Orientation
7 lessons that improve your spatial orientation.
Have you ever noticed that the great athletes always know where they need to be in a nano second? They know where every part of their body is in space and are highly aware of every part of their environment.
These movement sequences give you a taste of the path to excellent spatial awareness.
Day 15 - A Pendulum Swing of the Pelvis
Day 16 - Swinging the pelvis from the fingertips
Day 17 - Introduction to Rolling like a Ball
Day 18 - Holding the feet and rolling
Day 19 - Lengthening the sides
Day 20 - Preparation for the backbow
Day 21 - Spiralling from back to front
Week 4 - Develop True Strength
These 7 lessons are a combination of movement lessons that focus on power and flexibility of the legs.
The lessons work on how strength and power of your muscles is dependent on the co-ordination of an action through your whole body not just in isolated parts of yourself.
The last three days are longer (c. 15 minutes) "flow sequences" combining elements from the earlier videos.
Day 22 - Tucking the toes and squatting
Day 23 - The Cossack Dancer
Day 24 - 4 Point Standing
Day 25 - Lunging
Day 26 - The Fencer
Day 27 - Centre and Flow Movements
Day 28 - Flex, Extend, Roll and Flow
2 Additional Days:
Strength is important, but to be powerful you need to understand how to support yourself dynamically from the ground up. The Power and Flow sequence challenges your ability to stay stable and balanced in more testing movements.
Finally, lie back and marvel at your incredible human capacity to learn new and more optimal ways of moving and for discovering how movement truly can be pleasurable and enjoyable!
Day 29 - Power and flow
Day 30 - Body Scan
"Feeling younger while growing older. Never have been that supple before in my whole life. 10 minutes a day keeps the doctor away 
." - Rickie Boevink, NL
Feldenfit gives you the knowledge and power to improve your own health and well being. The exercises have become a critical part of my routine to keep me moving well without pain killers. 
." - Michelle King, UK
“After Feldenfit I had to apologise to my physio for no longer making appointments. The 15 years spent trying to relieve the pain in my hip. Ceased after one exercise” - Heather Warburton, UK
"Let your body feel younger while growing older. Help yourself to more mobility and fun in your riding and daily life by resolving movement restrictions in your body with a series of slow but very effective exercises done within the comfort of your living room. Short sessions of 10-15 minutes per day will empower you and help you to stay fit in the long run." - Nan Brünig
Join us in the programme to learn to use the 30 movement experiments to help you tune into yourself and refine your position and aids in the saddle.
Are you ready to become your own seat coach and free your inner expert rider with FeldenFit 1
When you subscribe to FeldenFit 1 you will get access to a series of 30 lessons that help you be a more effective rider by improving your balance, co-ordination and suppleness. The programme is supported by Catherine McCrum through a Private Facebook Community. On subscribing you will receive life-time access to the course materials which you can work through at your own pace.
From time to time we will work through the whole programme as a Community and taking one lesson a day for 30-days. It’s optional to join but many of our members find it helps to keep them motivated and consistent. We will be working on Feldenfit 1 starting on November 1st.
My name is Catherine McCrum. I have over 30 years experience of training people in sport, fitness and movement. I have been a Guild certified Feldenkrais practitioner since 2002, and I have a masters in Gestalt Psychotherapy. I also work as an Assistant Teacher for Ritter Dressage and I co-teach "The Aware Rider" with Thomas and Shana Ritter and Charlotte Zetterberg, a fellow Feldenkrais Practitioner.“
I am an internationally qualified ski instructor and spent my early twenties coaching both members of the public and ski instructors world wide. On my return to London I retrained as a fitness instructor. Through this I developed a passion for writing about health and fitness, subsequently worked as a health and fitness journalist for various newspapers and magazines.
During this time I personally trained a number of well-known people including public figures, actors, musicians and models. I also worked as a fitness model for various books and videos. In pursuit of improving my athletic performance, I trained in Pilates Reformer and Matwork for over 5 years and was one of the first to introduce the Pilates approach to core stability into my training programmes. I’m the author of The Supple Workout which is based on how to incorporate Pilates into fitness programmes. I also presented these concepts at conferences to fellow health and fitness professionals.
In 1998 I discovered the Feldenkrais Method and in a matter of moments, dropped the Pilates and switched to Feldenkrais.
This changed my life and the course of my career. Currently I teach a wide variety of individuals and groups in my practice in London ranging from those who wish to improve their performance in their sport or their art, to people with neurological difficulties. I also have a psychotherapy practice. I have presented on how the Feldenkrais Method can support rehabilitation to physiotherapists, biomechanics experts and body workers as well as how it can improve performance to the British Association of Ski Instructors.
I have a passion for helping people reach more of their potential in every aspect of their life.
Quality fitness training has always been a huge part of improving my performance and staying injury-free for my sports, but when I embarked on the Feldenkrais training, my ideas about what it is to be fit and healthy RADICALLY changed.
I learned how to work out intelligently, rather than hard. And I learned that if I listened to the feedback from my body rather than pushed through pain, I could improve my performance and stay injury-free.”
The Feldenkrais method is a way (or means) of developing your awareness of how you move (and also what STOPS you from moving as well as you can, or as well as you would like to) in your daily activities and in your sports or hobbies.
I use my knowledge as a Feldenkrais teacher and blend this with my background in sport and fitness to make a flowing sequence of lessons that enhance co-ordination, agility, suppleness and effortless power.
The FeldenFit is a unique concept. It’s an amalgamation of my current work as a Feldenkrais Practitioner and also of my earlier work as a ski coach and fitness instructor.
Over the years I’ve developed a series of short Feldenkrais inspired movement sequences that I do regularly in the comfort of my own sitting room.
I do them before I ride, after I've worked out, and as part of my daily life.
My students feed back that these short lessons easily fit into their day and have transformed their movement and their body awareness.
The unexpected bonus is how the exploratory and non-judgmental attitude that is encouraged in the sessions has expanded beyond the movements: they feel more balanced, centred and grounded in every aspect of life.
Try a Sample FeldenFit Lesson:
This is a familiar lesson with a few surprising twists! The movements in this session will help you feel how good support from your feet and legs helps you differentiate the vertebrae of your spine, frees your hip joints and enables you to access the power of your pelvis for dynamic stability. In lying, you explore many possibilities of how to free your hip joints and find the dynamic power in your pelvis and spine that is so essential for moving and riding effortlessly.
Riders will also notice that when you find more length and power in the spine to hold you upright, it becomes easier to lengthen the front of the hip joints so that the legs are free for subtle cues and aids.
Let's Get FeldenFit! Two Options Available
The Fundamentals Series (FeldenFit 1)
✯ 30 days of daily 5-15 minute guided lesson videos (Valued at €300)
✯ Do them anywhere, anytime - Downloadable Audio Files (Valued at €45)
✯ Periodic Accountability Challenges in the Facebook Group (Valued at €100)
✯ Support and Encouragement in the Facebook Group (Priceless!)
✯ Lifetime Access!
✯ DEUTSCH! Alle Videos wurden synchronisiert, es gibt deutsche Audiodateien zum Herunterladen und auch die Boni wurden auf Deutsch aufgenommen.
Total Value = €445
Today's Price = €97
*Other currencies available
The Entire FeldenFit 4-Pack
If you don't already have the previous three FeldenFit series, you can save and buy all four together!
✯ FeldenFit 1 - The original FeldenFit 30-Day Program
✯ FeldenFit 2 - The Follow-up 30-Day Program
✯ FeldenFit 3 - The 30-Day Rider's Series including 4 lessons to do in the saddle
✯ FeldenFit 4 - The Second 30-Day Rider's Series to help you become the rider you’ve always dreamed of.
✯ Lifetime Access, Downloadable Files, Facebook Group and all the bonuses from FeldenFit 1
+ DEUTSCH! Wir synchronisieren nach und nach alle Feldenkrais Videos. Für Feldenfit 1 und Feldenfit 4 ist dies bereits geschehen. Auch die deutschen Audiodateien zu den Übungen gibt es bereits.
Total Value = €1780
Today's Price = €297
*Other currencies available, Payment plans available
*one-time payment for FeldenFit 1 comes out to less than €3,23 per workout!
*one-time payment for FeldenFit 4-Pack comes out to less than €2,97 per workout!
Our Guarantee
We hope you will love this program. You will have a full 2 weeks from the date of purchase to see if it is right for you. If it doesn’t resonate with you, just let us know and we will refund your money. No hassles. No hard feelings.
"It’s the easiest possible way to maintain mobility and strength." - Jacky Davies, UK
"FF not only improves your riding and awareness, it also improves the quality of your daily life." - Kelli Compagnoni
"FF is my daily routine! 
" - Ursula Lutsch
"Get stronger without weights. Get more supple without Pilates. Be more body aware in a few minutes a day with FeldenFit" - Linda Jones
"FF4 was my first FF course and I liked it very much. Having done nearly all four courses now (I will end up with the first time FF1 between the years) in FF4 I especially like the little longer duration of the lessons with more time to listen to the body in between the movements." - Caroline Kurz
"FF4 has certainly helped improve my riding. It stretches the mind as well as softens the body, challenging questions and unusual movements. From ‘surgeons hands’ to ‘carp leap on a roller’ I feel things differently." - Rosamund Saunders
"If you want to be well connected with the horse it is necessary to be well connected with all parts of your own body. I have never felt so one with my horse. since I've been doing feldenkrais every day, I've been able to ride much more relaxed and I'm more flexible, both in my body and in my mind 
" - Tanja Pohlmann
I don’t practice daily, I should. But when I feel stiff and sore, FF is my first thought. Love that it’s meditative and helps me be more aware of how I move and carry myself. There are a few practices that are phenomenal for my locked up right SI. - Lyse Bisonnette
"I have recommended FF to many people but have not found the perfect words to describe how powerful it is, besides what I feel of course." - Katja Mueller
"Feldenkrais has become an essential part of my daily routine. It gives me better body awareness and helps me feel more grounded, which helps in my riding and also with everything that life throws at me." - Maria Blomen
"Fabulous for the body and the mind and it enables you to improve your riding when you aren't on your horse." - Susan Hinton-Smith
"Healing comes through the body & FeldenFit is a great movement involving balance & strength as it is able to help us connect with more awareness about muscles we didn’t know we have!
" - Fiona Gillespie
Frequently Asked Questions
FeldenFit 1 and 2 are a general approach to improving your effectiveness and fitness as a rider the Feldenkrais way.
FeldenFit 3 and 4 focus on the specifics of what's required for riding with finesse. The details of how you can use every bone in your feet for support, how each joint in your leg can be available for supple aids. The importance of equalising the use of your eyes so that you can easily indicate new directions to your horse without hesitation. These are just a couple of examples of the specificity of what's on offer for riders in this programme.
FF1, introduces fitness the Feldenkrais way it's a great place to start to lay down the foundations of this unique way of working.
The original lessons were all recorded in English, but FeldenFit 1 is all translated and dubbed in German, as well. When you join FeldenFit, you receive access to both English and German versions immediately.
If you want to be the best possible partner for your horse, refine your self-use and take your riding to the next level... then you are ready for FF1.
Feldenfit lessons are designed to extend your movement abilities and improve your co-ordination and the health of your posture. This makes it particularly suitable for riders who need to be both stable yet dynamic, powerful yet soft, clear in their intention yet able to change tack at a moment’s notice.
You can expect to improve your motor skills - co-ordination, balance and agility. You can expect to become more stable and centred without sacrificing you ability to move dynamically according to the demands of the situation. You can expect increased awareness of the sensations that let you know when you’re working at your most optimal.
You need to be physically capable to follow an exercise programme. If you’ve had surgery recently or you have a medical condition that could prohibit you from exercising, then you need consult your GP or Medical Consultant.
You can do most of these lessons. A few may be more challenging, but there are ways of modifying the movements so that they’re suitable. If you’ve had surgery recently you need to consult your Medical Consultant.
Yes. For example if you have difficult being on your knees, then I suggest that you place pads or cushions. Also many of the exercises start with an easy version and become more demanding. You are encouraged to stick to the variation that is within your limits and personal comfort.
This is not a pre or post natal programme. Some of the exercises will not be suitable for pregnant women whereas others will be.
Yes. All the movements are done slowly and with attention to ease, comfort and enjoyment. You don’t have to be especially flexible or strong to start the programme though it’s especially important in Feldenfit exercises to listen to your body and not push beyond your limits.
Some of the exercises are simple and others are more challenging. If an exercise is too difficult for you, then you can skip it and return at a later date. It’s likely that your co-ordination and skills will improve through the programme so that all the exercises become possible eventually.
This is a series of lessons which primarily improve motor skills and co-ordination. As long as you can get down on the floor then you have the skills to start.
On a carpet, rug or padded mat. A yoga mat is not suitable as you need to be able to slide.
Just a floor and a rug or mat to lie on.
Loose comfortable clothing.
All the exercises are designed to be done in your own home.
As often as it feels enjoyable to do so. Like any physical skill, practise is a vital part of improving how you move in all aspects of your life.
Although there are 30 days of exercises, it’s important that you work at the pace that is right for you so just pick up where you left off.
Yes, you will have unlimited, lifetime access.
Yes, you can do them at your own pace. These are 30 days of lessons to do at any schedule that works for you. Some may choose to do them less frequently. Others may choose to do several a day. Both are possible and both are absolutely allowed. We encourage you to find what schedule feels good to you, and works for you in your current situation.
I suggest modifications. But you can also ask in the facebook group. If an exercise is too challenging then move on to the next one. You may find that you come back to the more difficult exercises in the future and miraculously you are able to do them with ease.
There is always room for improvement! You can learn to do what you already do well with less effort and more flow so that you have energy left. These movements are inspired by the Feldenkrais Method - many artists, sportsmen and performers use Feldenkrais to improve their performance.
Of course!! As long as you are not pushing through discomfort or pain, you can do the exercises as often as you like.
You can repeat the sequences you find enjoyable. And you can go back to the exercises that you found more challenging.
